A misperception of Perkasa

We should take lightly the misperception that Perkasa is a violent bully, employing strong-armed tactics and misbehaving.. We should, really.

COMMENT

Although the recent incident involving a Perkasa member who rudely brushed the back of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has shocked many people, please do not blame Perkasa.

Perkasa cannot be held responsible for the actions of renegade members acting on their own free will. It is just like the “hang Ambiga” episode. What Sri Gading MP Mohamad Aziz said about S Ambiga does not reflect Barisan Nasional’s stand.

Perkasa is an independent NGO led by respected independent MP Ibrahim Ali. It has been active and vocal in its fight to protect Malay supremacy, religion and the royalty.

The Malays under 54 years of BN rule have not improved and it has fallen way behind the Indians in the country. Only the Chinese do not seem to buckle under, probably because most Chinese were born with strong legs.

So finally, it is left to Perkasa to champion the fight for the downtrodden Malays in the country.

Unlike Jelapang MP Hee Yit Foong who was allegedly bought over for an undisclosed amount, which led to the downfall of Perak, Ibrahim is an honest gentleman, who turned independent after winning on a PAS ticket because he couldn’t stand the stifling politics of PAS.

He was never paid millions as alleged or accepted any form of compensation, so it is not very kind of us to call him the king of frogs.

And being independent, he hopes to unite Umno and PAS as he is neither BN nor Pakatan Rakyat-friendly. Seemingly hostile towards the non-Malays is unintentional as demonstrated by his big heart to give ang pows to the senior Chinese citizens during the Chinese New Year.

Perkasa, too, has the support of our beloved ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, a fountain of wisdom as its patron saint. Although retired and surviving solely on his hard-earned savings and retirement benefits, he still takes the time to append his words of wisdom and advice to those who will listen.

And Perkasa, with a few hundred-thousand members, is a force to be reckoned with. Even some have named them as the Third Force. Because of this, even Umno is cautious not to embarrass Perkasa, or risk the wrath of Perkasa’ members who can swing the highly needed votes.

Observe with a smile
Other than a gentle reprimand and a slap on the wrist, the opposition too is not particularly fond of denouncing the NGO, as Perkasa seems to be doing everything right in its endeavour to destabilise BN’s efforts to woo the electorate.

The general consensus is to take a back seat and quietly observe with a smile as Perkasa wreaks its wrath on the nation.

There is a general optimism that Perkasa’s antics would cause irreparable damage to the nation and rile the fence-sitters to reconsider their options.

Sadly, the Malays too are not amused with the antics of Perkasa. They are an embarrassment to the Malays as its radical actions reflect poorly on the Malay race.

Proud Malays are disgusted that Perkasa seems to see the Malay majority as economically backward and religiously weak, stupid, helpless, opportunistic, haughty and aimless although none of it is true of the Malays in this country.

The Malays in this country have a sense of sharing, humility, joviality and pride, while most are genuinely friendly, helpful, nice, sensitive and respectful of the other races. We do not dream of dominating the other races although we dominate in population.

A while back, Perkasa had warned the nation that the Chinese were going to take over the country one day. Later, it turned on the Christians, accusing them of trying to take over the nation and to install a Christian prime minister. A fired-up Ibrahim even volunteered to lead the crusade to neutralise the grave threat.

As Perkasa is very passionate about the Malays, any threat to race and religion would immediately be shot down. Its stand on the Malay bible fiasco was one example: how Perkasa tried to protect the innocence of the Malays or any threat to proselytise them.

Its aim is to ensure that every Malay has the chance to attain heaven, without having to endure any temptations to their faith.

One must not be too critical of Perkasa, as it is a young organisation. We must give it time to corporatise its image and adopt a more professional work attitude. Its love for the Malay race, king and country shows how much love it has in its heart.

Their (Perkasa’s) fight to defend Malay supremacy and Malay rights is also admirable, as most Malays have forgotten that they were once supreme beings and the “Princes of the Soil”. But the opening up of “Bumiputeraship” to other races like the Siamese, Javanese, Sumatrans, Mamaks, and Eurasians have diluted the “specialness” of these rights, and most Malays never bothered to exercise these rights anymore.

In fact, they felt more comfortable being on equal terms with other non-Malays than to exercise this right.

Chinese kingmakers

Perkasa’s fervent fight to retain the NEP (New Economic Policy) is also laudable, as the Malays only managed 18% even after the injection of RM52 billion and half a century later, while the Chinese and Indians managed to scrape the other 72%. So how can we fault Perkasa for that?

But, most of all, Perkasa is terrified that the Malays would lose their superiority and their political power should the opposition take over.

There would be no more leaders except for the one odd Anwar Ibrahim, whom Perkasa believes is unfit to rule. The rest would be Chinese and Indian leaders and the Malays would become slaves in their own land, as pointed out by Perkasa and its patron saint.

So unless the Malays unite under one flag, Perkasa’s endeavour would remain an impossible mission.

We can sense Perkasa’s desperation as the unavoidable general election draws near, and its commitment to defend the Malays remains futile.

So you can see why Perkasa has to resort to extreme measures like its stand against the Chinese, its call for revoking the citizenship of unpatriotic citizens, its violence against journalists and funeral rites for wayward leaders who are weakening the power base of the Malays.

Even the MCA and MIC have acknowledged the important role that Perkasa plays in uniting Malaysians under the BN banner.

That’s why, these parties have reserved their criticism of Perkasa for a more appropriate time, while praying fervently that Perkasa may weave its magic to unite the nation.

Mahathir is right when he says that raced-based parties are still needed, that BN must be allowed to govern forever, that non-Malays must recognise Malay supremacy, that we should not allow slavery in this country. But it could happen if the Malays do not unite and become slaves in their own land.

He also said that the Chinese will be the kingmakers when before it was supposed to be the Indians. But really, Perkasa is the actual kingmaker as it played a pivotal role to sway the electoral mood and it has done an extremely good job.

So, for now, we should take lightly the misperception that Perkasa is a violent bully, employing strong-armed tactics and misbehaving or being irrational.

Instead we should sympathise with BN for not having the courage to denounce Perkasa, much to the chagrin of the non-Malays who see that as an endorsement of Perkasa’s high-handed actions.

A tour guide, trained pilot and naturalist, Iskandar Dzulkarnain has been writing a few years now and with his articles appearing in most of the E-media.